


Prepared for the Future

by Rhohel_of_the_Shire



Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout 4
Genre: Child Sole Survivor, Gen, Not Canon Compliant
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-01
Updated: 2016-10-03
Packaged: 2018-07-11 12:09:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,578
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7050391
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rhohel_of_the_Shire/pseuds/Rhohel_of_the_Shire
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which a child crawls from the remains of Vault 111 looking for her best friends amongst the grime and gore of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Nora Millicent Williams was like her Papa; a big, strong soldier. She was going to find Nate if it was the last thing she did, because he was all she had left from her life before the vault. Even if that life was only a short six years.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Nora

**Author's Note:**

> I'm in a little writer's block for my other fandoms and I wanted to try out the Fallout fandom.
> 
> Paring: None.
> 
> Rating: T
> 
> Fallout 4 belongs to Bethesda Softworks.

Nora was a big girl, she was six! She really was, and the best part about being a big girl was the fact that Nora could enter with the older kids in her middle school's ballerina classes. Her mommy was happy that her daughter was taking up a girly hobby since Nora loved to play outside in the river with Nate and the older boys. While her mother disapproved of her boyish whims, Nora's father was more than happy to indulge his only child.

Sundays he would play ball with her in their little neighborhood of Sanctuary Hills, and on Tuesdays when he got back from the Fraternal Post 115 he would take Nora out to the Drumlin Diner. Every other weekday he would trade off with her mother and pick her up from her dance practices and the two would go to the Freedom Museum in Concord.

Now don't get Nora wrong; she loved her mommy but Mommy was more stern than her Papa. She believed in the traditional American dream and Nora was something that didn't fit into that tight restrictions. But her Papa was the opposite of her Mommy; he had seen war with the 'damned commie bastards' and when he got home to America he decided to live his life to the fullest. After a tour of the country he came back to the Commonwealth and met her Mommy; sometimes when Papa explained this to Nora he used big words like 'elope' and stuff like that.

Something she would learn when she was older.

But back to what she was saying, her Papa was more lenient with her because he could see her innocence past the horrors of war. So if his little girl was happy then he was.

Currently Nora was happy dancing like a pretty princess at night and playing in the dirt with Nate at day.

Oh! Nate was the most annoying boy she could have met, but with that dimpled grin and bright blue eyes Nora was more than happy to put up with him and his shit. Of course Nate was baffled when she said stuff like shit and dick, but he promised not to tell her Mommy if she snuck him some Nuka Cola Quantum.

She on the other hand was a pretty little girl (her Papa said so!) with her long black hair and pretty green eyes. Okay, Nora was shorter than most girls her age but this didn't stop her from many things. She had a big smile and could charm the coldest of hearts.

So when the Vault Tec Representative came to the door while her Mommy made breakfast and her Papa was shaving, Nora was able to get the impatient man to wait for her Papa. Papa picked her up from the floor and settled her on his hip, and talked amicably to the man who then left when he got what he wanted.

"Papa, what's a vault?" Nora asked when she was sat at her chair and her Papa took his coffee from Codsworth.

"Its a place for people to go if the bad guys make the world go boom," he told her as she began to shake some Sugar Bombs into her bowl.

"But why do we need it?"

Her Mommy poured milk into her cup and bowl before giving Nora her spoon, "Because darling, its just in case."

Nora nodded and ate her Sugar Bombs; Mommy and Papa liked to having things just in case of emergencies. That's why they bought Codsworth! But even Codsworth couldn't prevent her doggy Lily from leaving her home.

She was humming happily to herself after she finished her breakfast and went to her room to get into her cream dress like her Mommy wanted. Her parents said something about going to the Post tonight for a speech but all Nora could think about was playing football with Nate. Her hair was left waving in the wind as she put her black Mary Janes on and grabbed her football.

"Where are you going young lady!?" Her Mommy yelled.

Nora rolled her eyes but said, "To play with Nate!" and as she ran out the door she could hear Mommy grumble about Nora getting her dress all dirty.

Of course Nate was at the small playground and with a little bit of coaxing she got him to follow her down to the little wood bridge by the creek. She frowned at the heightened activity near the little dirt path and looked at Nate. He shrugged and took her ball from her and started to run up the hill. She yelped and ran after him but in her fancy shoes it was harder to do so.

Both of the kids stopped when a vertibird flew overhead and the sirens started to play their shrieks.

"Nate?"

"Yeah Nora?"

"I want to go home," she said as a soldier in Power Armor passed the two of them with a big gun. Nora didn't wait for him and started to run down the path to get to her Papa and Mommy. She passed her frantic neighbors and heard Nate yell at his Daddy to put him down, and she eventually tripped over a fallen motorcycle and skinned her knees.

Tears welled up in her eyes and she tried not to cry but she couldn't help it. Her wailing caught the attention of everyone but no one came to her with a bandage. Eventually she heard her Mommy scream for her and Nora wailed louder, and she was picked up by her Papa. "P-Papa!" she shoved her head in his neck as he and her Mommy ran back up the path.

She raised her head a bit when they stopped for a second and she saw the Vault-Tec Representative ran passed them. Screaming about how Vault-Tec would hear about this.

When her Papa started to run again Nora took in her surroundings and saw people in a panic. The bright red and yellow leaves fell as they would for any other day and she asked her Papa, "So we won't see the game at Fenway Park?"

"No, Nora we won't."

Across the small platform was Nate and his Daddy, unlike her the eight year old was standing there with his dead Mommy's necklace in his hands. "LOWER THE ELEVATOR!" and Nora watched as the soldier that yelled it ran to the little building and began to go through the controls there. She turned her head to look at the view and before Nora knew it there was a huge mushroom cloud in the sky and a big wave of debris heading towards them.

"HOLD ON!" Papa yelled and she screamed as the platform began to go down. The last thing Nora saw of the surface was the bright sun being drowned out by dark clouds.

She was daydreaming as her Papa walked through the Vault, but snapped out of it when a nice doctor took her to another room to change into the bright blue vault suit. She sniffled and whined, "But I don't like it!" To which the employee sneered for her to get over it.

Nora was led back to her Papa who was wearing his suit too and cracked a joke that either he or she had to go home and change but Nora was too shocked by the recent happenings to do much other than hold her Papa's hand. Mommy held her other and they were brought over to the weird looking seats, first she was hugged by her Mommy as Papa helped her into the pod.

Then it was Nora's turn to get into her pod and she held onto her Papa, "It'll be okay sweetheart, it'll be over before you know it. Now where's my strong little girl?" And she tried to smile at him.

"Here."

"I can't hear you soldier!"

"HERE!" and with that he gave her a last hug before lifting her into her pod.

Faintly she could hear Nate whine, "Why does Nora get her own pod?"

"Because her family paid for it."

"I love you Caroline, Nora."

"I love you Nathan, Mommy loves you Nora."

Her pod closed before she could tell her Mommy and Papa the same thing but with her Papa in front of her she huffed onto the glass and drew him a big heart. Papa smiled and then a loud female voice began to count down and it got cold. Quick.

"3..."

"2..."

"1..."

And Nora was frozen in place with her hands curled in front of her face, resembling a heart.

~.~.~.

When Nora woke up again the female voice was talking again in big words and there was two people standing in front of Nate and his Daddy's pod. One was in a hazmat suit and the other was a bald man in funny clothes.

"This one," and she watched as the pod opened and her friend started to cough. Nora pounded her fists on the door and tried to get their attention but she was ignored. Across from her her Papa was doing the same as Nate was helped down from his pod before the bald man pulled a gun out on his Daddy.

"NO!" she yelled as the kind was killed and Nate was being dragged away kicking and screaming.

The man looked at her and smiled cruelly, "At least we have the back up."

Nora spit at the glass and cried out when the man waved a hand and the pods around hers began to dark and her Papa began to wheeze in his pod. "PAPA!" but she watched what she would later find out was her father's death. And it would be nothing like the ending he always envisioned for himself, to go out with a bang.

Instead he suffocated in a dank dark vault with his only child watching it.

Then Nora froze again and this time her face was a bright red and tears and snot were streaming down her face. Nothing like the hopeful little girl that had been frozen for 150 years with heart shaped hands.

It seemed like a lifetime ago that Nora had sat down at her dinner table with some Sugar Bombs and her Grognak comic book. Her Papa reading the news and her Mommy cleaning the dishes with Codsworth.

Now after what seemed like a second but was 60 years later, Nora woke up and this time she was alone. Her pod opened up because something went wrong and she vomited on the floor. Nora cried and wiped at her face before crawling over to her Papa's pod; and she it the one button near his pod and it opened up. With some trouble she climbed into his pod and curled up next to his ice cold body and wept.

In her childish mind she knew that her parents were gone and that she was truly alone.

Nora didn't know how long she stayed next to her Papa but when she got up she whispered to him, "I'm your big girl daddy, I'm your little soldier." She slipped his ring off his finger and went over to her Mommy's pod. Hers didn't open easy but with a good kick to the door it popped open for Nora. She gave her Mommy a kiss and took her ring too.

She walked around in the vault and hopped over the skeletons and hoped they were fake.

"KYAAAA!" and upon seeing the biggest roach in history and ran from it. She went through hall after hall and found herself in the overseer's office and picked up the gun there. Her Papa taught her the basics to shooting and she knew that she should turn on the safety. But she didn't.

Her little hands picked up a small bookbag and stuffed the gun into it with the accompanying extra rounds. Then she stumbled into an inventory room where her dress and her family's clothes were stored. Nora took the cream dress that her Mommy bought and her shoes; then a Nuka Cherry that was hidden in someone's purse.

When she was done stuffing the big bag up she ran over to the entrance and screamed at the roaches there. Her vault suit was stained with blood when she stepped and kicked it. Then her eyes landed on something she couldn't believe.

"A Pip-Boy!" and although she kicked the arm from it, Nora couldn't help but to feel happy. Her very own Pip-Boy!

Sure it was a little big but if she believed hard enough then she could wear it. Her fingers fumbled on a small plug in the back to pulled out with a wire and she looked at it then up to the platform's plug in. Nora stood on her tippy toes to push the thingy in and she hit the button when the glass box on it popped up. She jumped when the huge vault door opened loudly and lights and sirens began to start up.

Nora walked up to the platform and jumped on it as it started to move as the entrance opened up before her, and the elevator that she had been carried on was there. Waiting for her. The cage on the elevator opened and after a minute of standing on it the elevator began to raise up.

Leaving the vault behind her, six year old Nora Millicent Williams emerged into a Commonwealth that was much more different than she had last seen. Nora gasped when she reached the top, oh it was terrible. The once vibrant landscape was drowned out in the bleary wasteland's brown hue. In the distance she could see fallen buildings.

And to think that Vault-Tec was prepared for the future!

The only thing Nora could do was go home, but looking to the elevator to the vault she sighed. Her Mommy and Papa was where home was, but they were gone. Her small feet tread carefully on the radiation soaked dirt as she searched around the area above Sanctuary Hills; her eyes alight in slight wonder as she placed Rad-Xs and RadAways into her bag. In a wooden crate she found a Giddyup Buttercup Head but she couldn't carry it around with her.

She got to the the bottom of the vault's path and walked over what once was her neighbors and her country's protectors. Desperately thinking about how it was just a funny Halloween trick. Anything other than it could have been Mrs. Walker that gave her cookies and let her and Nate read her Grognak comic books. Or kind Mr. Allen that would sneak her a Nuka Cola even after Papa said no.

But now she was walking through the skeletons of her old neighborhood and gasped.

"CODSWORTH!" she ran up to the Mr. Handy and hugged one of his arms and the British accented robot gasped.

"Miss Nora? Is that really you?" and she nodded frantically, "Well lets get you something to eat. Where is Sir and Mum? Oh its been a while since we have had a family dinner together!"

"B-But we can't!" she cried out.

"Why is that Miss Nora?"

She sniffled and said, "Mommy and Papa are gone and someone took Nate! I-I want to find Nate!"

Nora sat in the dirt and let Codsworth ramble on about how it was understandable that she would be hysterical; trauma and not eating for 200 years would do that to a sane person. He led her to the kitchen of her home and she climbed up on a stool while he set about to find her some dinner. Her green eyes caught the worn edges of her Grognak comic book and she sat there to read it. She was disappointed to see that some pages were gone and her hysterics had finally calmed down as the smell of cooking meat filled the air.

"I apologize for the wait Miss Nora, but I went to the other house and I have found only the best I can," and in front of her was cooked meat? and a Nuka Cherry. She let him open the bottle and with her hands she ate the meat. "Granted it came from the biggest radroach I could find," and Nora spat out the meat.

"EWWW!"

"I must implore you to eat, get your strength up. You did want to find Young Nate?"

She nodded, "Then please eat your food Miss Nora."

~.~.~.

Her room was different then she remembered; the bright pink wallpaper was peeling and some of the walls were broken down. Her floors were dusty and it looked like someone had been going through her things! She looked under the bed and smiled, the knife her Papa taped to the bottom of the frame was still there. Nora's pajamas were old and threadbare but she put them on and let Codsworth tuck her into bed and he read from her books.

Dreams of her Papa and Mommy flew through her head and when she woke up she half expected her Papa to be in the living room reading the newspaper and for her Mommy to still be asleep. Instead she got Codsworth laying out her fancy cream dress and white socks, not her Papa or Mommy doing it for her. "I'm afraid that as there is no running water you cannot bathe today."

That was okay, she didn't like baths anyway.

Tiny feet were clad in white and her dress covered her scabby knees; she tugged her collar into place and didn't brush her hair. "I don't think I can brush my teeth," she said when she found her toothbrush was gone. Her new book bag was set by the orange door and a little help from Codsworth she heaved it on her back and let him pack some Dandy Boy Apples and fresh water into it.

"Where are we going?"

"Concord, there might be some people there that could help find young Nate."

Nora kicked broken pieces of concrete down the road and she wished that she was riding in her Papa's car. She gasped as Codsworth suddenly blocked her view and floated over to pick something up. "What is it?" Nora asked as she bounced around him.

"I must beg you not to look," but she didn't listen to him.

The poor man in front of her had his eyes open and there were little bugs crawling around in his mouth and neck. Next to him was a Stimpak that she picked up and handed to Codsworth. She averted her gaze after that, not even daring to look at the animal next to him with the tire iron in it. A bark in the distance got her attention and in her desperation she started to run to the Red Rocket.

She screamed when something exploded from the ground and fell onto her bum. Nora raised her hands up in defense but nothing happened; opening her eyes she stared. "Lily?" but the dog in front of her was not Lily, no Lily was a Golden Retriever. This was a German Shepard and it was biting the head off a huge monster.

As Codsworth and the dog scouted the area for anymore of those things she merely curled up in a ball and cried.

"I want to go home."

Looks like someone wasn't prepared for the future.


	2. Marcy, Garvey, Murphy, and Abernathy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Nora starts to make friends as she begins her trek across the Commonwealth to find Nate. Coincidentally they all have rhyming names.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! I'm glad to see that you lot like this story!
> 
> Paring: None
> 
> Rating: T
> 
> Fallout 4 belongs to Bethesda Softworks.

She didn't remember Codsworth telling her to stay at the Red Rocket, all that she knew was that the dog was there with her. Keeping her mind occupied as it begged to be scratched and loved on. Her mind was completely filled with joy as she threw a piece of irradiated branch and watched as the dog fetched. Nora was okay letting Codsworth tell her what to do, he's been doing it since she was old enough to run.

So basically Nora trusted him more than anyone at the moment.

Her curiosity led her to explore the little station, and she pouted when she saw the leg of a Giddyup Buttercup. If only she could get the one from outside the vault then she would be close to getting one. Papa never let her have one, no matter how much she begged him.

Though Nora was very curious as to where Codsworth was; he had left in the early morning but it was already getting dark. She was very hungry and playing with the dog had lost its appeal very quickly. Instead she was messing around on the terminal in the station when she read that there was a little cave under the Red Rocket itself.

"Look doggie! Let's go explore," Nora cried out and the dog yipped at her happily.

It seemed like a good idea in her head to go and explore the cave, but when Nora finally found it she didn't seem as happy. Coupled with the dark and cold of the Commonwealth air and the ominous feeling from the cave; Nora didn't want to go in there any more. However, the dog was already bounding inside and Nora chased after him.

She scraped the weird brains of the walls and took a bite from one curiously before throwing away with a loud, "Bleh!" Her little shout had attracted the attention of the mole rats inside. Well, the few that were in there were shredded to bit by the dog and Nora could only scrounge around after the dog made sure it was all cleared out.

The green tinted air was making Nora feel nauseous and she kept coughing as the radiation got to her. But! There was a lot of stuff in here that Nora wanted, but she couldn't carry by herself.

"Hey doggie?" and the German Shepard perked up, "Can you get Codsworth please? I don't feel so good." That in itself was an exaggerated truth, but if Codsworth was here then she could take all this stuff with her. Like Nora needed that gold watch and fusion core. Her little backpack was filled to the brim with things as the dog ran out and Nora decided to sit down and lay against a broken Nuka Cola machine.

She kept rubbing her eyes as she waited for Codsworth and the dog, and her mouth was hurting a bit. Nora poked her gums and frowned at the bright red blood on her pinky finger. Okay, this wasn't fun anymore; she was actually getting sick and couldn't figure out why. "Papa," she whimpered out as she clutched her stomach.

Nothing she did to stop it from churning helped and the little girl finally vomited onto her cream dress. Her beautiful black hair was covered in irradiated gunk and the once laundered dress was a complete mess. If her Mommy was here she'd be having a fit; not only was Nora sick but her clothes were ruined. Her Papa would be the one that would pick her up, no matter if she vomited on him or herself, and would take care of her.

A sniffle escaped her when she heard the familiar sound of Codsworth's loud thruster and the crunch of boots on the stone.

"Oh dear! Miss Nora!" the was frantic when he took in the girl.

Her green eyes were stuck on the woman he brought in with him; her body was stiff and she looked ravaged. Her own black hair was messy and her accent funny, but Nora didn't care. All she saw was her Mommy, and she burst into tears. "Mommy!" she held her grimy hands up to the lady.

"What tha fuck is this? How in the world did you get all messy girl?" she asked but Nora didn't answer.

She couldn't answer, because if she opened her mouth one more time she would throw up again. The lady helped her by rubbing her back like Papa would and she cried silently. The hand under her backpack was comforting and lured Nora to sleep; giving the two time to double check for anything Nora may have left. Of course the woman was happy to see the various scrap that Nora stuffed into her bag.

Like really? Its hard enough to find a fusion core under normal circumstances, but a little kid does it on accident?

"Thank you Miss Long, I'm afraid that in the state Dogmeat was in I could have been able to do this."

"Yeah, yeah. Just keep walkin'."

When Nora came too there was a man in overalls standing in her room, messing around with a bunch of needles. And the best thing about Nora was that she hated needles. Seeing as he was too busy she slipped out of her bed and under it; when he turned back he was confused. "What in the heck?" and he stood there like an idiot with a weird purple needle.

"Fuck. Ahhh, hey uh? Hey Preston? Uh...Preston?" he yelled. All he got was no answer in return, "All right, just calm down. You got it Sturges," and he set the needle down before getting down on his knees to look under the bed. Nora was curled up there, looking at him with her big green eyes. "Oh fuck, heya there kiddo. You uh, you gonna come out?"

"No."

"Well alrighty then," and he waited a minute before asking, "How about now?"

"No."

"Okay, well. For this will you?" and he held out some pre-war money and bottlecaps that he found and she gulped. The young girl swiped the money from him and crawled out from under her bed. Her hair was still dirty and her dress was still covered in vomit, but he smiled at her as if that was the least of his problems. "Now, let's get you cleaned up kiddo. Took a ton of radiation in that cave Marcy got you from," and he picked up the needle again.

Nora shook her head, "No, I want Mommy and Papa; only Papa has the magic to make needles not scary."

Poor Sturges looked at her incredulously, "M-Magic?"

"Duh!" she said, as if he were dumb. Nora was amazed; he didn't know about Papa Magic! It was the only magic worth knowing about since it helped her cope with her fears. Did he not have a papa to do Papa Magic?

"I don't have Papa Magic," he said.

Nora turned up her nose, and no matter how much her tummy hurt she wasn't going to get a shot without Papa Magic. She walked over to her broken walls and looked out into what used to be her back yard. It was brown and dead and her Mommy would have a heart attack if she saw it looking like this! Sturges sighed; if she wouldn't take a nice shot to get rid of the radiation then RadAway it was.

"Fine, not shot since I can't do Papa Magic. I'm going to give you some RadAway, its nasty but it'll clean you up good," and from her dresser he took an orange looking pack. He handed it to her and said, "Remember, that shits consumable." She looked at it and tore a hole in it before sniffing it and recoiling. Sturges only laughed before leaving the girl's room; leaving her to suffer by herself.

She just knew that she would be in so much trouble, for not listening to Codsworth and getting hurt because of it. Well, even though it was nasty the RadAway helped her tummy and made her feel better. Nora grimaced when she looked at her dress at her broken vanity mirror; the pretty cream was dulled with red from the Nuka Cherry and Radroach she ate.

"I need a bath," and after a second she blushed, "and the potty."

Even if she hated baths, Nora knew when she was beat; and being covered in irradiated gunk and vomit was her limit. She went to her dresser and found one of the rose dresses her Mommy bought her, a towel, underwear, and socks. Her padded feet pittered on the floor as she went to the living room, and found the woman that held her yesterday.

"Umm, excuse me?" and she turned to the girl from her spot on the couch.

"What do you want?" Marcy asked and Nora flinched before steeling herself.

"C-Can you help me?"

Marcy looked at the little girl in front of her; clutching two hundred year old clothes to her chest like they were hers. Acting as if the house were hers, but she swallowed her grief for a second. No, she was not going to belittle her. Marcy was going to help her, and for the first time since she lost her child she wasn't bitter. "Of course, what is it?", and Nora looked nervous.

"Mommy helps me bathe, but Mommy's gone. And I need the potty too," and Marcy was familiar with the tiptoeing of children and nodded. She lifted Nora into her arms, not caring once about the dried vomit.

Nora dug her head into Marcy's neck as they passed people she didn't know and looked up when she stopped. In front of her there was a guy in a nice colonial hat that she saw with her Papa in the Museum of Freedom. He looked like on of those people about minutes, and he had a weird laser rifle on his back. She gasped and smiled at him.

"Minuteman!"

The man looked happy and tipped his hat at her, "Preston Garvey, Commonwealth Minuteman. Ready at a moments notice."

"I'm Nora Williams! And I'm a ballerina in the Malden Middle School!" she said, remembering her mother's etiquette on how to address herself. Both of them looked confused as to what a ballerina was. "I'm looking for my friend Nate, have you seen him?" she asked them politely. Preston shook his head and gave her a sad smile.

"I'm afraid not, but Marcy will help you for now. Okay?" he asked.

She nodded at him and held onto Marcy as she settled Nora on her hip, "Oi Preston! I need one of them pre-war tubs cleared out and scrubbed down, then we need Sturges to bust his ass on a water pump for water. Got it?" and without waiting for an answer she trudged towards the irradiated river. Walking through houses and picking up odds and ends; like a fancy hairbrush and soap as well as a bucket.

"Its not exactly good to bathe in the river but until a bathtub gets set up its all you have kiddo."

Nora whined when her socks squelched in the mud, but she let Marcy help her out of her dress before filling a bucket with water. With a hand she covered Nora's eyes before pouring the water on her. "Here's the soap, just scrub it everywhere," and as Nora took her bath Marcy kept close. A 10mm was tucked into her waistband, ready to be used at any moment.

"Well fuck," she grumbled as she used some of the soap to clean the cream fabric. She scrubbed furiously at the stains and was happy to see that the red was coming out easier than she thought.

The rose dress was hanging off a broken fence post and some dry underwear sat with it. The towel was waiting to be used as Nora cleaned the goop out of her hair under Marcy's supervision. When she was clean she ran over to the towel and let Marcy dry her hair and body. She dressed up in the rose dress and let the woman tie her hair up after brushing it.

"Go play kiddo," and Nora gave her a hug before running up the path to Vault 111.

She needed to see something.

~.~.~.

The vault hadn't changed in the day that Nora had been gone, but she needed to know.

It hurt her a lot to walk back to the pods, to see that even when she left the pods open to her Mommy and Papa, that they were still cold and frozen. Her Papa was looking like there were still snowflakes in his black hair, and his eyes were alight in pain. The brown iris never moving again. Mommy was still pretty, even frozen Nora decided. Her brown hair was still stiff as the day that she got it done professionally, and her green eyes were closed.

Though the two were on the forefront of Nora's mind, she saw something that she thought she saw when she got released from her pod. It was Nate's necklace; the cold gold was stuck to the seat of Nate and his Daddy's pod. The Sole Survivor couldn't even look at Nate's Daddy, and quickly left the room. She walked to what looked like the kitchen/living area and took the Red Menace holotape.

It was something that she knew she would play later.

Nora sat down at the Overseer's chair and took out her Mommy and Papa's rings from her pocket; the gold glinted in the dull lighting. She undid the necklace and slid the wedding rings onto the necklace. Then she sat there staring at the golden bands and necklace; her memories of the happiness from before all this was prevalent in her mind.

The nights spent watching the Silver Shroud, or the meals that Mommy would make with Codsworth for Nora and Papa. Her Lily running around the backyard, chasing Nora around for a dog treat. Her Papa taking her to Red Rocket to buy some Nuka Cola to take to the Starlight Drive-In; the short visits to the Fraternal Post to see her Papa's friends. The freedom of speeding down the Mass Pike Interchange in her Papa's Corvega.

She took all of it for granted, and now that it was gone all Nora wanted was it back.

Sniffles followed by sobs ripped from her body as she allowed herself to grieve; her Papa would tell her that it was okay to cry. That all little girls like her cried every now and then and she didn't have anything to worry about. But that was the problem! Papa wasn't here to say that, and he had left his daughter alone in this world.

The new irradiated world of hers.

"Nora! Nora!" and she didn't look up and cried into her arms harder.

The musky scent told her that is wasn't Marcy that was down there with her, but the coat said that it was Preston. The minuteman was carefully redoing the necklace on slipping it over her head. He picked her up and held her close to him, "Oh Nora." She nuzzled her head against his neck and let the dark skin comfort her.

"Can you bury 'em?" she asked quietly, only letting his nod his head. The General was disgusted at the cryo pods filled with people, and by the looks of it they were all pre-war. Meaning that the little six year old in front of him was over two hundred and ten years of age. She stretched her legs and he set her down; letting Nora go to her Papa. "This is my Papa. He was a-a Sar-giant? Yeah, he was that in the United States Army," Nora told Preston, who nodded along with her.

The black haired girl went over to her Mommy, "She's my Mommy. She was a sciency person in Arc Jet." Then Nora went down the line; telling Preston about everyone in the once tight knit community of Sanctuary Hills. From the drug dealer (Nora didn't know what that was but Preston did) to the elderly grandparents that used to be around the Red Rocket.

Everyone had a story, Preston learned and all of the sudden Nora wasn't the innocent girl he thought she was. She was the- _THE_ Sole Survivor from this vault; hell she was the one pre-war person that wasn't a ghoul. Nora Williams was a treasure trove of lost history. Sure the pre-war ghouls could talk about the old days, but they never talked about the rich American history.

This girl was worth more bottlecaps than he could possibly think of.

"I promise that they'll get buried."

That was all Nora needed. Some closure from her old life.

"Thank you," she said. "I want Mommy and Papa to be happy in Heaven."

"And they will be."

Nora gave him one last hug before running to the entrance of the vault, ready to find out the way to Nate. She had seen this weird mystic lady earlier and maybe she could help Nora. So she ran back to Sanctuary and lo and behold, Mama Murphy was waiting for her in her room. The old woman was holding her backpack and shoving clothes in it.

"Your energy kid, is tied to this place. But if you stay here then you can't help your friend."

Nora perked up as she took her bag with a quick look inside; there was her vault suit, the cream dress, boots, socks, underwear, hell she even had a giant coat stuffed in there. Her bag was filled with clothes, and as she put it on her back a side bag filled with supplies was thrown to her. Stimpaks, RadAways, Nuka Colas and Cherries, grilled radroach, and more.

"Go to Diamond City kid, and take Dogmeat with you. He led us to you, so now I'll lead you to help. Don't worry kid, Mama Murphy can set you straight," Mama Murphy told her.

"But, what if I get lost?" she asked.

"What if you can't find that kid?"

Nora gulped and Mama Murphy gave her one last thing; a utility belt with a pipe pistol and 10mm gun in the waistband. She took the extra ammo and put it in her side bag. "I'm scare Mama," she said.

"I believe in you Nora. And so did your parents."

The girl smiled and wiped the remains of her tears from her face; then she squared her shoulders and went to find Dogmeat. A bark alerted her to her Mommy and Papa's room, and she whistled. "C'mon boy! To Diamond City!" and he huffed as he jumped off the broken bed. She chased after him and took shortcuts through the old neighborhood.

Her little feet took her far away from the home she's lived in all her life, never once thinking that Marcy or Preston or Codsworth would miss her. All she could think was that when she found Nate; she would kill him, or hug him. Nora wasn't sure which she would do; not yet but she would when she saw him.

The first thing she noticed when she stopped running was that they didn't go through Concord, instead they went off the road and headed down the shadows of power lines. What she found in a power tower was a small family.

A family by the name of Abernathy.

~.~.~.

Lucy was sitting by her sister Mary's grave when she heard the familiar sounds of a mongrel running towards her. She pulled out her pipe pistol and reloaded quickly just in time to realize she was pointing her gun at a little girl and her dog. This was the most precious girl she had ever seen; beautiful black hair tied up with a white ribbon, a rose dress that made her look like a pre-war ad girl, and green eyes that she envied.

Those said eyes were cowering away from her as she sighed in relief. Lucy Abernathy was a lonely girl, never having a friend other than her sister. So when this tiny girl came to her Lucy was more than happy to welcome her to the farm. Happy that there was another child here besides her; well she was a teen but she was treated like a kid.

"Hey, hey. Its okay, I'm sorry. Don't worry, I'm Lucy. Lucy Abernathy," and the girl was trusting enough to make grabbing hands at her. Lucy picked her up and groaned under the weight of the girl and her supplies.

She smiled at Lucy and said, "I'm Nora Williams, and I'm lost."

"Lost? Well, where you going to?" she asked, smiling a bit.

"Diamond City, I need to find my friend Nate," Nora told her. She hooked her legs around Lucy's waist and let the teen carry her into her the farm house. Nora yawned as Dogmeat tread on Lucy's heels; she called out for her dad and mom. Her sweaty button up was dirty and everything, contradicting the cleanliness of Nora's dress. "He's been taken from my vault and I have to find him."

Lucy asked, "So you a Vault Dweller?"

"Mhm," she mumbled as Lucy pushed the door to her home open; her mother and father were sitting at the table with a bottle of beer in their hands.

Blake and Connie Abernathy were waiting for their daughter to come in from the melon patch before getting dinner ready for them. Then they were surprised to see their young daughter enter their home with a girl on her hip. "Mom, Dad; this is Nora. Can we keep her for the night?" and Lucy didn't beat around the bush as she set Nora down.

Even going as far to help Nora get her packs off and get the utility belt and weapons secure.

"What?" Blake asked so eloquently.

The black haired girl bounded up to them and smiled, "Can I get some help to Diamond City?" Connie was immediately charmed by the girl and vacated her seat, just to set Nora in it. "I got some food in my backpack, I can share if you can help me," she told Blake and Lucy jumped on that bandwagon immediately.

"Yeah dad! We can all go to Diamond City!"

Blake shook his head, "We can't just leave the farm! Lucy, it's too dangerous to go. For us or a little girl!"

Nora pouted and asked, "Can you at least tell me how to get there?"

"In the morning, but now let's get some grub," Connie said and Nora raced over to her bag and hauled it over to the table. She pulled out a purified water for Dogmeat and a Nuka Cherry. Her grilled radroach was still warm and she took four pieces out and some Instamash she found in there. Nora smiled up at Connie and nudged the food in her direction.

"I can share! Mommy told me sharing is caring!"

Blake and Connie could only stare at the little girl, both wondering how the Wasteland could spit out such a kind person like her. Their daughter was more than happy to go fetch some mismatched plates for the food Nora had. She also brought out some tatos that she helped picked earlier and her father's combat knife; slicing each tato into pieces and setting them on the plates.

The pop and slight fizz from the Nuka Cherry brought a smile to Nora's face as she went to pour some of the drink into the random ceramic bowls and coffee cups that Lucy found for her.

For once in a long time there was a bright and happy dinner at the Abernathy farm; something that had been in high demand after Mary had died. All it took was a vault dweller and some human compassion for the wasteland victims to see that the world was not as lost as they thought.

Dinner passed with happy smiles and little games that Nora made up; the Abernathy's playing along and getting the little girl all tired out. Lucy was filled with joy as she picked Nora up, the vault dweller having fell asleep at the table while the family talked about defenses and food. She rummaged through Nora's bag to find a pair of pajamas shoved in the bag.

Lucy had no problem changing her into her clothes seeing as she helped passing families take care of their children. It hurt just a little bit to tuck Nora into Mary's bed, but with one last smile she left the child. When she headed to her own bed, Lucy wondered what wonders Nora would bring in her short time with them.

It would be a damn shame to watch her leave for the long road to Diamond City.

"Goodnight Nora," and she left her alone. Her dog curling up next to her and keeping watch from her side.

Well, there was one consolation for Lucy; at least Nora had such a great traveling companion to be by her side on her way to Diamond City.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm glad that there is such support for this story! Thanks you guys~!
> 
> Ragehappy Mavin Fan  
> (A.K.A. Rhohel_of_the_Shire)


	3. The Prydwen, Haylen, and Papa Maxson

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Nora finds another family in the Commonwealth, but it was not as kind as the Abernathy family or the Minutemen. Instead in was the opposite of her family, but she found her Papa again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Thanks for liking this story! It means a lot to me, and I will warn you that I've been playing a shit ton of Overwatch. So if I deviate and start up an Overwatch fic just remember that McCree is the reason why. (Shit already did it)
> 
> Paring: None
> 
> Rating: T
> 
> Fallout 4 belongs to Bethesda Softworks.

Armed with both directions and some more supplies, Nora gave a tearful goodbye to the Abernathy family. Her constant companion nipped at her heels as she gave Lucy and Connie one last hug. A makeshift map was shoved into her backpack by Blake before she began the next leg of her journey. Of course the family had offered her a place to stay; they would have let her live there with them on the farm.

Even if that was what she wanted to do, it wasn't what she needed to do.

Though there was one thing Nora didn't expect, it was meeting mean people. Every now and then she would stumble across a group of mean looking adults and Dogmeat would protect her most of the time. But, she remembered pulling a pipe pistol on an unsuspecting woman that tried to beat Dogmeat to death, and then she pulled the trigger.

Her aim wasn't the best but the woman was still alive when Nora ran out to check on Dogmeat. Whether or not she survived was unknown to Nora, as she continued southeast. Her little Mary Janes were silent as she played the Diamond City Radio on her Pip-Boy, the cool voice of Dion was comforting to her.

As the days passed her by, she got hungrier and hungrier because as a child she had no clue that rationing was going to save her from starvation. So when the food ran out, Nora got thinner. This...this was something she never had to worry about; her Papa would normally buy more food, or her Mommy would feed her. Her water was gone and she drank from the dirty water on the ground; it was ruining her slowly.

She would trudge along the broken roads; taking cover in buildings when it started to rain with Dogmeat at her side. During nights she would cuddled up against the German Shepard, not trusting him to sleep otherwise. The generosity of others had run out since she found the Abernathy family, and with it so did the access to food.

Maybe she should have stayed in Sanctuary with Preston and Marcy, they weren't her Mommy or Papa but they watched over her like them.

But whenever she thought like that, then she would think about how Nate would want her to find him! The older boy was always with Nora and she would always find him no matter what.

When Nora finally found a familiar place she was on the edge of Cambridge, her Pip-Boy picking up a weird message but all she was hoping was that they were friendly. She followed the roads that she and her Papa would have taken to get to the Fraternal Post and Nora let out a silent squeak at what she saw. There was zombies!

Given they didn't act like the ones from the movies she would sneak into with Nate at the Starlight Drive In, but they were real life zombies! And Nora was going to be a hero like in the movies! For the first time in days she smiled and looked past her hunger to pull out her pipe pistol; instead of thinking that she was killing something Nora knew she was saving someone.

With a small nudge Dogmeat surged forward, and Nora followed him cautiously. Like the Silver Shroud she swooped in and pulled the trigger on the zombies, just as cool and awesome as the Shroud! And like in the movies she knew that the only way to get rid of zombies is to shoot them in the head, it was common sense.

But as soon as Nora got to the street in front of the zombie horde, she saw the most awesome thing in the world.

"FOR THE BROTHERHOOD!"

OH MY GOSH, THERE WAS A CATCH PHRASE TOO!

The horde of zombies ignored her completely but Dogmeat had taken notice of the giant suit of power armor. In fact he cut through the zombies like a bullet to get to the power armored man; Nora could only hide behind a broken down car as the dog ripped into the zombies. With aided help from Dogmeat, the man was able to do what should have been Nora's job at being (and she looked around before thinking) badass.

She crept closer to the barricade entrance of what she knew was the Cambridge Police Department, and could hear the man praise her dog. "Good boy, Scribe do you think he is of an intelligent breed?" and Nora smiled. This man knew that Dogmeat was as smart as anyone!

"Its hard to tell sir, maybe if we hand him over to Senior Scribe Neriah then she could tell."

WHAT? NO! Dogmeat was her friend she couldn't let them hurt him! "Hey! Don't touch Dogmeat!" she cried out as she ran out from behind the ruined Corvega. Nora dashed past the barricades and threw herself at the dog; her gun leveled with the man's head as she pushed Dogmeat behind her.

Instead of hurting her, like she thought, the man looked more startled if anything; he wasn't sure if he was going to hurt her or not. Nora flinched when a soft hand settled on her shoulder, and a kind woman smiled at her. "Hey sweetie, its okay. Just put the gun down," and the young girl's bottom lip wobbled as her green eyes welled up with tears. "Its going to be alright."

She sniffed and dropped her gun, "B-but, D-Dogm-meat!"

"He'll be okay too, I promise."

Nora's stomach grumbled angrily at her and she whimpered, "H-he's hungry." She let the nice woman take her bags off and hand them to the armored man, and she merely grabbed onto her shoulders when the woman picked Nora up.

With a bright smile aimed at her, Nora felt better than she did in days. Someone cared, and unlike the meanies that wanted to take all her stuff and Dogmeat, this woman was more than happy to bring her inside. "And by the looks of it so are you," and Nora rested her head on the lady's shoulder. She looked behind the woman to watch the armored man walk behind them.

"Hi," she offered weakly and stuck out a hand to him.

Her Mommy would be appalled if she saw Nora now; a grimy dress and ratty hair when greeting a stranger for the first time. Though the man didn't care and shifted her bags to shake her hand as well, after a moment of thought. When they got inside the old building the yelling began; Dogmeat had weaseled his way in before the door was completely open. He was now pressed against a man in orange, licking at the water bottle the man dropped in his surprise.

"Wha- What is this?! Paladin Danse, do you condone this- this mongrel to be in here!"

Nora frowned, "Dogmeat's not a morngel, he's a puppy!"

"He's a filthy animal! Just like you, you little wastelander!" the man spat in anger before anyone could stop him. Nora, poor little Nora couldn't help it anymore; she burst into tears. Her wails were muffled by the woman's jacket as a comforting hand ran over her messy hair.

She cried all the tears that she held in since leaving Lucy and her family behind, since she ran out of food, "MOMMY!" Her one word was long and drawn out, but Nora took solace in the woman holding her.

"Knight Rhys! Hold your tongue, before you get thrown in the cell again! Do not behave like this again, do I make myself clear?" the Paladin asked. Dropping the bags Nora had on a dusty counter, Danse took a deep breath before rubbing at his temples. Like Papa did when he was upset. Nora hiccuped and rubbed at her eyes, trying to stop crying but she couldn't. "Haylen, bring her some water and food soon. Then we can all talk," and Nora's bloodshot eyes bore into his brown ones.

She let go of Haylen and reached out for Danse, her grubby fingers wiggled at him as she forced herself to stop crying. The Paladin took a step back before his armor began to hiss, it opened up before her like a present and he stepped out. His suit was just as orange as Rhys and Haylen's suits, and he looked less like a hero from a movie to a normal person.

One her Papa would have liked.

"Hey it will be okay," he was one of the most awkward people she had ever met in her life. But, he was a hero and that was enough for her. His hold on her was secure and she could only get more tired as she cried on.

It never even occurred to her that she fell asleep on Danse until she woke up the next morning with Dogmeat curled up next to her. Properly brushed and taken care of, watching over her like he had in the days before.

Her personal teddy bear.

~.~.~.

"You look funny."

Well, to Nora he did look funny! The man in front of her was dressed up differently from the others in the Steel Brother thingy, he was a lot like her Papa. His scars were weird and he looked very young; though he was very bossy like Mommy. The others around her started to cough and she held onto Danse's hand tightly; she was just asking a question.

"Ahh, Paladin Danse; this is the child you wish to sponsor for a Squire?"

"Yes Elder Maxson, she is rather intelligent and resourceful for a child. Nora claims to have trekked all the way from Vault 111 to Cambridge with a dog and minimal supplies."

Nora frowned, "Dogmeat's name is Dogmeat, not Dog." He was just as smart as she was! Dogmeat was able to help Danse go to her Mommy's work place and play the Silver Shroud for a day!

Elder Maxson (well he wasn't elder because he was young) sighed and told everyone but her to leave. She tugged on the hem on her ancient dress nervously when the man knelt down in front of her. "It is nice to meet you Nora, pray tell where you're parents might be," he asked kindly and Nora sniffed a bit. She could only shake her head and just by that the man knew exactly where her parents were.

She looked up at Danse for a second before he gave her a subtle nod, "You look like Papa." He was very much like Papa, but he didn't have her eyes. They were like Mommy's eyes instead, and he had black hair like she did. The look he gave her reminded her of her Papa when he smiled, his eyes did the wrinkly thing and his lips pulled up into a smile.

But this was different, it wasn't a smile like Papa's, this man was trying to smile for her and his attempt fell flat. She could tell that he was really upset about something, and Nora reached out and took his hand. "I'm Nora Williams and I'm a ballerina," and Maxson (that was really familiar) shook her hand.

"I am Arthur Maxson, Elder of the Brotherhood of Steel."

She scrunched her face in concentration and before either Danse or Arthur could ask her what was wrong she yelled out, "Silver Shroud!" Her face was bright with excitement as she bounced up and down excitedly. If she thought Danse could be the Silver Shroud then she was sure that Arthur was the Silver Shroud. Well, he had a beard and the Shroud didn't but that didn't matter! "Papa would watch the newest Shroud episodes with me! You gotta be the Shroud!" Nora cried out. She grinned up at Danse who was shaking with laughter, and Arthur was exasperated.

"Nora, the Silver Shroud was broadcast over two hundred years ago. There's no way you could have watched it when they came out, you'd have to be a ghoul to do that."

"Nuh uh! The vault thingy that Papa signed up for kept us good as new for a long time!" then she got sad, "But there's no one left."

She looked up at Arthur shyly when he took her hand and told Danse he could go eat, "Let's go make sure you're not sick okay Nora?"

"No needles?"

"Only if you aren't sick."

One hour later, the Elder was sitting in the mess hall nursing a really painful black eye as Nora sat next to him munching on a Mirelurk Cake. She had been severely malnourished and was recovering fro dehydration when Danse found her. So the first thing she needed was a Stimpak for the bruises on her body, but she had thrown a huge temper tantrum.

Her 'Papa Magic' only worked when Arthur had been punched and she forced her to sit still in his lap as he hummed to her a Dion song. Nora had let Cade use his needle when Arthur had decided to hum for her, letting him calm her down when she needed it.

Now however, some of the female knights and scribes were fawning over how cute she looked with her Squire outfit on and a nice shower brought out her beautiful eyes and hair color. Her face lit up as she talked to the other Brotherhood members, and it was only when she started to get sleepy at the table did they leave her alone. She was a big girl! She didn't need a bed time but Nora didn't object to Arthur carrying her to Danse's quarters.

A small bed had been set up for her for the night, and Nora didn't like it. Her old pink bed sheets were stuck in Sanctuary while she was her in the big zepplyn? Zepplin? Zeplin? Whatever she was in Nora was stuck in the air and unable to do anything other than follow Danse and Arthur around. She did miss Dogmeat who had taken off after he got back with Danse from her Mommy's work.

"Don't wanna go to bed," she nuzzled against Arthur's neck anyways.

"You have to, tomorrow you can start to be a Squire."

"Wanna find Nate, don't wanna stay here."

"We'll talk tomorrow about it okay?" he asked her and she nodded.

Nora was fast asleep when she was laid down on that spare bed in Danse's room, sleeping the world away as a meeting happened without her knowledge. Everyone that was associated with her had been gathered in Elder Maxson's room, sitting at his little table. Cade, Recon Team Gladius, and the Elder were all engrossed in their conversations about the strange child Danse had managed to pick up.

"No disrespect to you Elder, but the girl will not be a great addition to the Brotherhood. She is too disrespectful," Rhys complained, as Haylen shot a glare at him. He never really liked Nora and that dislike grew when Haylen was sorting out her clothes and he caught sight of her Vault suit.

Danse, who grew fond of Nora, was quick to cut across Rhys, "Well then she is a step above you, as a child she can be taught to be respectful of her commanding officers. You are willfully disrespectful of your COs."

The knight sunk down in his seat when Arthur and Cade raised their eyebrows at him, but otherwise didn't make a move to chastise him. They all knew that any abuse towards children was not tolerated on the Prydwen, and Rhys was walking a dangerous line. "Nora is ... different then the other Vault Dwellers we have seen. She has been able to recall broadcasted episodes of The Silver Shroud without trouble. Sometime during dinner she referenced knowing Roger Maxson at one point in her life. I believe that a search needs to be conducted for Vault 111. Any and all technology is to be confiscated and all technical documents are to be brought to Proctor Quinlan. Am I understood?" Arthur was saluted by the Recon Team crisply.

Well, Rhys was the sloppiest of them all considering he basically ran out of the Elder's room.

Cade, however, was interested with the young girl that answered all his questions with more finesse then an adult Vault Dweller. Her dialect was something to behold, seeing as it was older then any Pre-War Ghoul could remember since the bombs. The few manners that he could spot were akin to those he would read in the Pre-War documents.

Even better when checking her with a Geiger counter, she showed no signs of having any natural born radiation; even for a Vault Dweller that was pretty ridiculous. There was an opportunity for her to be formally introduced into the Brotherhood of Steel, her genetics were clean and it would be a boon to their cause.

"Elder ... you realize how precious Nora really is? If she is taken by the wrong people ..." Cade trailed off, letting Arthur catch his drift. It was a grim realization for him, the Institute would have done anything to get their hands on her. Hell, when they catch wind of her existence, their synths would be breaking down his door for her.

"Of course I do, but she must have people looking for her. People that are willing to burn the land and boil the sea. We will be a target."

"We will be saved. She can be adopted into Steel and when the time comes work her way up the ranks. Imagine the possibilities," Cade continued, and Arthur resigned himself with a sigh. He knew the possibilities that Nora brought with her was honestly tempting, but Arthur knew the expectations that came with being a child prodigy of sorts.

"Yes, you are dismissed Cade. Thank you for bringing this to my attention."

Steel help him, Arthur waited until Cade left the room completely before giving in and grabbing a bottle of whiskey off his desk.

He needed a drink.

Though when the next morning came around Nora's enthusiasm had diminished a small bit but she still kept her cheerful demeanor. The black haired child was more then happy to sit with children her age and eat the old Instamash made for their breakfast. Though there was one problem with the other Squires she found herself with.

"But! You're a wastelander! From the Commonwealth too," one snooty boy commented, as if he was talking about a Grognak comic book!

"Hey! I've always lived here! My Papa chose to live here after he left Alaska!"

"Dummy! Alaska's like thousands of miles away!"

"But Papa was there to fight away the Red Scare!"

"Your Papa was dumb to ever tell you that, just like you are for believing it stupid dummy!"

Of course being called a dummy was not the worst insult in the Commonwealth, but no one talks bad about Nora's Papa and expect to get away with it. Nora used her outside voice (at least Mommy called it that) and with a loud screech she vaulted over the table. None of the other kids stopped her and cheered as she whooped him.

In the course of ten seconds she was done breaking his nose and was being hauled off of him by Arthur, "Don't talk bad 'bout Papa! He was a HERO!" The other boy was being picked up from the ground by Haylen and then Nora found herself in big trouble. Like grounded kind of trouble.

Arthur carried her to his office with Haylen dragging the other kid with her, she stuck her tongue out at the other boy when Haylen looked away for a second. And she grinned at the upset sound he made.

"Squires! What was that about?" the Elder asked when the were able to separate both her and the Squire.

Like magic, the boy started to cry out his story and pointed at her the entire time, "I don't kn-know w-what h-happened, sh-she just h-h-hit me!" Dealing with little fights like this made Nora mad to no end. He was lying! And they were nodding along with him the entire time! She forced herself not to cry as the two turned to her with their best Papa look.

The look that made her spill her secrets with that raised eyebrow.

"He said I was lying about Papa! He said I was dumb for saying my Papa was in Alaska to fight off the commies! And he called me a wastelander! I'm not one, I'm a ballerina!"

Still, Arthur looked like he was disappointed in her and Nora wiped the tears from her eyes desperately. "Still, Nora there are other ways to deal with anger then turning on a fellow comrade, no matter how mad they make you. Understand?" Arthur asked her.

The way that the other Squire grinned at her made her angry again as both Haylen and Arthur looked at her for an answer.

"Yes Papa."

~.~.~.

Her time out session led her to the airport under the eyes of Knight Rhys, and Nora could only listen to how he was 'briefing' her the entire way down. What she really meant was that he was complaining about having to watch over Nora. She pouted the entire way down, and the other Squire was with them too. Angry that he was in trouble as well, and that was the only good part about Nora's trouble.

Her clunky bags were still attached to her, since the last time she left them on the thingy in the air the other kids started to take her stuff. They were just as mean as the Squire and she didn't like any of them. Nora only liked Danse, Haylen, and Arthur; but they were all disappointed in her. The faith that they had in her was gone and Arthur talked to her 'bout gaining respect again.

"Okay, so what is going to happen in that the two of you will be paired together and sweep the airport before reporting back to me. Understood Squires?"

"Yeah."

"Ad victorium Knight!"

So Nora was outside sweeping irradiated dust with a big bully; the entire time Rhys was sitting in an old couch and was not caring of the evil words of the Squire. Her teeth grit the entire time she was sleeping as the boy kept dogging her about getting them in trouble. Nora's sniffles did nothing to stop him from hurting her feelings, just like the boys from her school had done such a long time ago.

Her little heart could only take so much from him, and like the usual for Nora when she got in trouble she ran. To safety, to her Papa, or back home. Nora threw her down her broom and stomped away from the Squire.

"Stupid wastelander! Nobody wants you here anyways, not even the Elder!"

Danse wanted her, but he was angry. Just like everyone else, and in that moment she was afraid that he was right.

She stood by the water and sniffled as she rummaged through her bags for her Pip-Boy and an empty holotape. Nora fumbled with the holotape for a second before opening up a new file on it and starting her voice diary.

"Uhmm, this is Nora Williams. I'm six years old and I miss my family. Papa always told me that when I'm feeling down I should tell someone, but everyone is angry with me," she paused for a second, and turned around to see if Rhys noticed she was gone. "Arthur is a lot like Papa, but he's not. Well I guess I should tell you about my friend, because he's the reason why I'm here. Nate's my best friend and I'm going to save him from the Red Menace, but I don't know where he is."

Behind her was the soft rustle of the wind and she wiped away her tears, "It's so lonely here. Me 'n Papa were 'possed to go watch the baseball game when we went to the vault. Me 'n Mommy were going to go with Papa to see Uncle Roger in the West. All my friends are gone and Nate is missing." Nora had her back turned to Arthur, who had come down to see the progress of the two Squires, and never once noticed him.

"I wanna go home! I wish I never woke up alone without Mommy or Papa."

The wind picked up around her as Arthur approached her and picked her up, "Why can't I go home Papa?"

"Oh Nora, home is not a place. It is a person, your home will always be with you. We will help you find your friend, never forget that family is of blood and steel. I will be your family, the brotherhood can be your family. Only if you let us."

As she wept into his dark coat he reached over and turned off the recording on her Pip-Boy, and in that moment he decided that twenty fucking something was not too young to be a father.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PAPA MAXSON TO THE RESCUE! The story is on wheels on must get going now! Thanks for all the love and support guys =)
> 
> Ragehappy Mavin Fan  
> (A.K.A. Rhohel_of_the_Shire)

**Author's Note:**

> Hopefully this helps get rid of my writers block.
> 
> Ragehappy Mavin Fan  
> (A.K.A. Rhohel_of_the_Shire)


End file.
